What Does a Liability Insurance Policy for Defective Products Cover

Running a business these days requires that your business carry a myriad of loss prevention insurances, errors and omissions, personal injury and the like.

If you are in the business of manufacturing a product it is essential that you carry product liability insurance.

Almost every day you hear of product recalls. Products that pose hazards to the public are recalled for everything from posing a potential choking hazard to air pollution. You can be sued even if your instructions for use were unclear and the product was misused.

Simply put, Product Liability insurance protects your bottom line in the event of a consumer experiencing some type of bodily injury from the use of your product. With injury awards that cost companies millions yearly, all it takes is one person to bring a lawsuit against your company for you to lose your business entirely.

If you outsource the manufacture of your product, your business cannot survive without product liability insurance.

You may have done your due diligence and checked out everything required to manufacture your product to the highest standards but the possibility remains that when manufacturing of the product is done overseas, replacement parts may not meet your established standards.

Although this type of insurance is not cheap, premiums can range from $2,000 to $10,000 per year but if you take into consideration that you could stand to lose hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in a lawsuit, the expense is negligible.

For many businesses today, general product liability insurance is a must-have when it comes to protecting a product manufacturer, seller or product business.

There are so many risks that these business owners face, and it’s important to have the most coverage possible.

Some of the elements included in a standard general liability policy are:

• Premises and Operations: This element protects the business against lawsuits claiming negligence injury or property damage directly related to the premises or operations of the business holding the policy.
• Products and Completed Operations: This part of a policy protects a business against lawsuits and claims arising from injury or damage related to the sale of a product with defects or defects in a completed action (such as the construction of a building).
• Personal/Advertising Injury: This section of a general liability policy protects the business from certain types of lawsuits related to slander, libel, false imprisonment, or hurting another business via advertising.
• Damage To Premises of Others: This section protects against damages to the premises a business occupies but doesn’t own.
• Medical Expense Payments: This part of a general liability policy protects a business from lawsuits arising from injuries guests may suffer while on the property the business occupies.

As you can see, there are many different elements addressed by general liability insurance, and product liability insurance for manufacturers and sellers is one of those elements.